Knowledge is power. So I am collecting as much knowledge as I can so I'll be ready. I'm talking about living near the Hellmouth. Now, you are probably wondering what I'm talking about. Well, let me start at the beginning..... My quilting buddie Julie and I both love Buffy, The Vampire Slayer. In fact, she has ALL the seasons (AND the Angel series too!) on DVD. When we realized we had this in common, she loaned me Season 3 and 4 (I own Season 1 and 2). I thought I had watched all of season 1. But no. So yesterday, I had a Buffy marathon and got through ALL of season 1 and MOST of season 2...... that's HOURS of vampire slaying. I was exhausted. I became a fan when Buffy first came out in 1997. My children were 17, 12, 10 and 8..... just the right age to tease me MERCILESSLY for watching that show. So, I gave in to peer pressure and stopped watching it. But now I am home alone all day and can indulge my fantasies WITHOUT comments from the peanut gallery. And so, the Buffy marathon. Buffy is a teenager who has amazing strength and is able to lift her leg REALLY high to KICK vampires to death - or at least knock them down - so she can then stab them with a stake and they turn to dust. She has this job because she lives in a town that is located on the Hellmouth where all these demons and vampires live. And that town is Sunnydale in California. Now, we all know that the TV networks have to change the names of the REAL towns/people to protect the innocent. And I do live VERY NEAR to a town with a name almost like SunnyDALE........ SunnyVALE. So, while I am not ON the Hellmouth, I'm sure that I am close. After all, both towns ARE in CA.
What have I learned so far? That I am glad I am NOT a teenager anymore..... the teen angst (popularity, clothes, homework, BOYS) is a good thing to leave in the past. Once through is enough. But I am learning great new phrases like "It uber sucks." And that you should NOT go to frat parties - especially ones with scary basements. And it only takes ONE drink to get you in trouble. But all that great knowledge isn't going to protect me from the vampires that are SURE to wander out of Sunnyvale/dale and find my neighborhood. So I have been stretching and practicing kicking my leg VERY high - especially while standing sideways and holding my hands in fists close to my chest. And then, when I've mastered that, I'll add the "spin and roll" part. But I'm not there yet. I will need some more Ibuprofen before I get there.....
Friday, January 29, 2010
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Techless in Silcon Valley
Here I am in the heart of the Tech Empire with all the big names surrounding me..... Yahoo, Apple, EBay..... not to mention the less well-known companies that produce the innards of our tech systems. So with all this techy vibe in the air, you would think that I would be somewhat able to understand the simple technological things in my home..... I guess not.
Our normal weekday routine begins when the alarm goes off at 6am. Mark staggers into the bathroom to shave, brush his teeth, etc. Then, leaving the bathroom light on, he heads into the dressing room to get into spandex bike garb. Leaving THAT light on, he shuffles off to the kitchen to fix my coffee, his coffee, breakfast..... The radio is still on, the lights are all on and I begin to realize that it is time to get up. So....... we had a power outage when someone in the neighborhood cut down a tree and it fell on a powerline. I went around the house resetting the clocks and microwave etc. I could do this easily as I had LOTS of experience with power outage repair from Maine. Mark came home that night, unaware of all that had happened. We had dinner and all was as usual and we went to bed....... Now, I have to insert an aside here. Mark has not been sleeping very well - stress with work keeps his mind whirring late into the night. So occasionally he takes a sleep aid to try and fool his brain. When he does this, he falls DEEP asleep and can be a bit befuddled first thing in the morning. So, now back to the story.....
The alarm goes off..... Mark staggers out of bed..... He shaves, brushes his teeth, etc........ He heads into the dressing room to get into spandex...... he fumbles out the to kitchen and begins to grind beans for coffee...... Meanwhile, I realize that all the lights are on and the radio is playing. I hear the announcer say, "It is now twelve nineteen"...... Waaaahhhh?? So I roll over and squint at the clock on my side - 12:18. And the clock on Mark's side - 12:19. And I hear the hot water kettle in the kitchen starting up..... So I crawl out of bed and weave my way to the kitchen (I'm not very balanced when I first get up). There is Mark.... measuring freshly ground coffee into a filter and the water all boiled and the oranges cut for juice.... "Honey" I say. "Do you realize that it's 12:19 AM?" Mark looks up at the clock on the wall in the kitchen and says, "Is it? Yeah, I guess it is...." He shuts off the light and begins stripping off the spandex as he heads back to bed. "Thanks for getting me before I had my coffee" he mumbles.
So, how did this happen anyway? Well, what I, in my techless ignorance, DIDN'T realize is that when you reset the clock, you must also reset the alarm. If you don't, it goes off.... but at midnight. Oops. I MUST learn how to operate ALL the stuff in the house..... and soon!
Our normal weekday routine begins when the alarm goes off at 6am. Mark staggers into the bathroom to shave, brush his teeth, etc. Then, leaving the bathroom light on, he heads into the dressing room to get into spandex bike garb. Leaving THAT light on, he shuffles off to the kitchen to fix my coffee, his coffee, breakfast..... The radio is still on, the lights are all on and I begin to realize that it is time to get up. So....... we had a power outage when someone in the neighborhood cut down a tree and it fell on a powerline. I went around the house resetting the clocks and microwave etc. I could do this easily as I had LOTS of experience with power outage repair from Maine. Mark came home that night, unaware of all that had happened. We had dinner and all was as usual and we went to bed....... Now, I have to insert an aside here. Mark has not been sleeping very well - stress with work keeps his mind whirring late into the night. So occasionally he takes a sleep aid to try and fool his brain. When he does this, he falls DEEP asleep and can be a bit befuddled first thing in the morning. So, now back to the story.....
The alarm goes off..... Mark staggers out of bed..... He shaves, brushes his teeth, etc........ He heads into the dressing room to get into spandex...... he fumbles out the to kitchen and begins to grind beans for coffee...... Meanwhile, I realize that all the lights are on and the radio is playing. I hear the announcer say, "It is now twelve nineteen"...... Waaaahhhh?? So I roll over and squint at the clock on my side - 12:18. And the clock on Mark's side - 12:19. And I hear the hot water kettle in the kitchen starting up..... So I crawl out of bed and weave my way to the kitchen (I'm not very balanced when I first get up). There is Mark.... measuring freshly ground coffee into a filter and the water all boiled and the oranges cut for juice.... "Honey" I say. "Do you realize that it's 12:19 AM?" Mark looks up at the clock on the wall in the kitchen and says, "Is it? Yeah, I guess it is...." He shuts off the light and begins stripping off the spandex as he heads back to bed. "Thanks for getting me before I had my coffee" he mumbles.
So, how did this happen anyway? Well, what I, in my techless ignorance, DIDN'T realize is that when you reset the clock, you must also reset the alarm. If you don't, it goes off.... but at midnight. Oops. I MUST learn how to operate ALL the stuff in the house..... and soon!
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